As advised in a previous Trade Alert, the World Customs Organization (WCO) publishes changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) at the international level every five years.  The changes go into effect 30 days after a Presidential Proclamation and publication in the Federal Register.

On December 23, 2021, the White House issued Presidential Proclamation 10326, which was published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2021.  As a result, the modifications of the HTS will become effective on January 27, 2022.

The changes are set to impact 350 products and product groups classified in various chapters in the HTS.  A complete list of changes can be found in a report released by the International Trade Commission.  In addition to new classifications, there will be updated tariff descriptions, legal notes, and product descriptions.  The new changes are intended to account for advances in technology, environmental considerations, and health and safety priorities.

Importers should review the 2022 HTS amendments to determine how they may impact your product classifications.  You may also want to take the opportunity to examine your tariff classification processes to ensure you are classifying goods correctly when the changes go into effect.  The use of outdated HTS classifications can lead to unnecessary delays with moving your goods through Customs.

Since many of the changes made by the WCO are at the six-digit level of HTS numbers, this could potentially affect your USMCA certificate of origin.  Deringer advises clients to review their certificates prior to shipping to ensure they match any changes made to HTS numbers on shipping documents.  If a blanket certificate of origin is on file with Deringer, this will also need to be updated.